The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) awarded all nineteen (19) Sandals Resorts its prestigious Healthier Safer Tourism (HST) travellers’ health assurance award for implementing proactive health measures in Tourism; as well as Sandals Resorts International (SRI) overall as a Healthier Safer Tourism Destination. This landmark, first of its kind achievement, solidifies SRI’s leadership and partnership with CARPHA for healthier, safer tourism, to protect the health and well-being of both visitor and local populations in the Caribbean. The HST plaques were presented by Dr. Lisa Indar, Executive Director of CARPHA, on July 9th at Sandals Montego Bay at “Celebrating Excellence in Healthier and Safer Tourism” -an award ceremony dedicated to recognising individuals who have advanced tourism health and safety across SRI’s resorts.
The health of Caribbean economies is closely related to the health of its travel and tourism industry, given that the Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region globally. CARPHA, through its innovate Regional Tourism and Health Program (THP), launched the novel HST award in 2020, as an impetus for tourism entities to be rewarded for implementing proactive tourism health and safety measures to be better equipped to manage public health threats while remaining open and competitive; all contributing to more resilient Caribbean tourism and economies.
The CARPHA’s HST Award is a tangible, measurable, evidence- travellers’ health assurance award, granted to tourism entities that demonstrate consistent implementation of proactive health surveillance and safety protocols. It provides travellers with added confidence and evidence in choosing a tourism service, by identifying tourism entities that are implementing proactive health measures in food and environmental safety and prevention and control of health threats, with staff training on the same, and real-time health monitoring for confidential rapid identification and response to health threats. The HST is recognized by regional and international health and tourism bodies including the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) and the Global Tourism Resilience Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC). HST awardees are listed on CARPHA’s website and will soon be linked to other health and tourism websites.
Dr. Lisa Indar commended the SRI’s achievement and leadership in tourism health and safety, remarking “CARPHA has a long-standing, public and private relationship with SRI, collaborating since 2012 on promoting health and safety in tourism. This historic milestone underscores SRI’s unwavering commitment to tourism health, safety, and environmental responsibility across the Caribbean as well as demonstrates its novel, trusting, strong partnership with CARPHA.
Mr Adam Stewart, Executive Chairman of SRI, fully endorsed the HST award in 2022 as a critical feature in keeping the Caribbean Safer and Healthier. Today, fittingly, SRI is the first resort chain with all its resorts receiving this auspicious award, giving Sandals the unique recognition of a healthier, safer destination. It’s not just another award, but a remarkable recognition regarding Tourism Health and Safety. The SRI brand has now provided tangible evidence of SRI enhancing its reputation as a healthier, safer destination, increasing its competitive advantage over non-HST tourism entities”
Each Sandal resort satisfied the key HST Award requirements by registering and actively reporting through CARPHA’s confidential Tourism and Health Information System (THiS) and by ensuring that at least 10 percent of key frontline staff completed the certified training in the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases in the Hospitality Sector, with over 1,500 persons trained across all properties.
Mr. Jeremy Jones, Regional Managing Director of Sandals Resorts International, reflected on the achievement: “CARPHA provides a safe environment for reporting and supports the hospitality and tourism industry in the most-tourism dependent region in the world because whenever something goes wrong with tourism in the Caribbean, we all get nervous; we all start to wonder what is the best solution and what CARPHA does for our resorts is to provide that level of safety and comfort. I want to thank Dr. Indar for the work she has done in providing a healthier, safer option for Sandals Resorts International”.
Mr. Gavin Palmer, Corporate Manager of Environment, Health and Safety at Sandals Resorts International, added, “Our long-standing relationship with CARPHA has played an invaluable role in helping us to champion the culture of health, safety and well-being across all our resorts. Together we have strengthened our systems, empowered our team members and set high standards to ensure that our guests, team members and community members are always protected. This ongoing collaboration reminds us that health and safety are not just policies, they are shared commitments that bring us together, inspire confidence and build a stronger more resilient tourism industry. Thank you once again CARPHA”.
CARPHA, CARICOM’s health lead, established and mandated by CARICOM Heads of Government, as the regional coordinating entity for public health, serves a crucial role in protecting and promoting public health in the Caribbean region. As the Caribbean’s response to public health, CARPHA continues to efficaciously provide a wide array of essential public health services and response to health emergencies through Caribbean-tailored interventions, based on the unique context of the tourism-dependent, small Island developing states of the Caribbean, with porous, highly interconnected borders, varying surveillance, laboratory and workforce capacities and high vulnerability to disasters and the impact of climate change; that necessities CARPHA’s Caribbean-tailored interventions and a well-coordinated approach with agencies and partners to best serve the Region ().
CARPHA’s THP is a multifaceted programme, that pioneer work for improving sustainable Caribbean tourism and health security. The THP adopts a multisectoral approach for improving the resilience of the tourism industry and by extension, the health sector of each participating country through surveillance, response, guidelines, capacity building, standards, policy, advocacy and partnerships, and a travellers’ health award and app. The THP strengthens regional and national health systems and enhances the health of visitor and resident populations by seeking to address the health, safety, and environmental sanitation threats to tourism. The programme has built capacity and equipped countries with regional tools that supports preparedness and response to public health threats ().
Since 1981, SRI has been leading the Caribbean all-inclusive industry by offering guests more amenities, more luxury, more innovations, and more choices than any other beach resort. The properties are located on some of the most sought-after stretches of sand in the world, including Jamaica, the Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Grenada, Barbados, Antigua, Curaçao, and Turks & Caicos. From the most romantic couples-only getaways to fun-filled vacations for the whole family, our family of all-inclusive resorts share the same vision – an unwavering commitment to excellence and a promise to exceed expectations.
